TV celebrity chef Sandra Lee is close to wrapping up a deal to continue to publish her foodie magazine through the newly formed OpenGate Media Group.
“Everything we wanted to do is done,” said Jack Kliger of the talks with Lee. “It will be at least a two-year deal.”
Kliger on Tuesday was formally appointed to the CEO job of TV Guide magazine, which is being rolled into the new OpenGate Media Group.
TV Guide magazine has published six test issues of Sandra Lee over the past year, distributing 300,000 copies.
For the past five years, Kliger was technically an adviser working through his own consulting company, Kliger Media, although in spirit he was the de facto CEO.
Kliger Media has now been merged into the new OpenGate Media Group, he said, with the magazine veteran officially taking on the CEO job.
It appears there may still be some last-minute hitches before a contract with Sandra Lee is inked, however. A spokeswoman for Lee declined to comment.
Asked what would happen if Lee’s boyfriend, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, enters the Democratic race for president in 2016 and Lee opts for a bigger role in the campaign, Kliger said, “We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.”
He added, “It was not one of the things that held up negotiations.”
With Lee and TV Guide magazine as the cornerstones, the new publishing entity will be on the prowl for acquisitions.
“We are going to launch or acquire other titles,” said Kliger. “We’re looking for partnership publishing deals.”
OpenGate Media is a division of Los Angeles-based OpenGate Capital.
Andrew Nikou, chairman of OpenGate Capital, said the company plans to move into a new 18,000 square foot Manhattan office at 50 Rockefeller Center in the first quarter of 2014.